8/10/2026
Written by
The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has named Founder Professor Nenad Miljkovic the new head of the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, effective August 16, 2026.
He succeeds Richard W. Kritzer Professor Anthony M. Jacobi, who has served as department head since 2015.
Miljkovic takes the reins of one of the world’s premier engineering departments at a time of substantial growth in student enrollment as well as a juncture in crucial areas of research impacting society, including artificial intelligence, autonomy, digital manufacturing, thermal and fluid science, sustainable energy solutions, and more — all of which are fundamentally supported by the fields of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics.
“I am incredibly excited about the many opportunities that lie ahead for our great department. MechSE is already a department of extraordinary people and ideas. My goal is to build on that foundation — fostering a culture where collaboration and bold thinking drive us toward discoveries that matter.
“My initial focus will be to listen and learn and seek advice from all stakeholders of MechSE. I hope that we can work together on maintaining and raising excellence at every level, increasing our research impact and research intensity, and cultivating our departmental culture to be even more supportive while expanding and deepening our valued principles of shared governance. I look forward to working closely with everyone to help move our department forward.”
Miljkovic earned his PhD in mechanical engineering in 2013 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined MechSE as an assistant professor in 2014 and was promoted to associate professor in 2019 and professor in 2022. Prior to becoming head, he served as director of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center (ACRC) and currently holds affiliate positions in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE); Materials Research Laboratory; and the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER).
Miljkovic’s research intersects the multidisciplinary fields of thermo-fluid sciences, interfacial phenomena, and energy. His research group contributes transformational efficiency enhancements in energy, water, agriculture, transportation and electronics cooling by fundamentally manipulating heat-fluid-surface interactions across multiple length and time scales. The focus of his research is directed towards fundamental research on micro/nanostructured surfaces for phase change, and interfacial phenomena; and applied research on devices and systems including solar thermal energy conversion, data center cooling, building energy systems, and electrification.
He leads the Energy Transport Research Lab at Illinois, one of the largest and well-funded research labs in Illinois Grainger Engineering, supporting more than 60 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
Research discoveries from his lab have resulted in translational impact to society. Among other achievements, Miljkovic has co-founded four companies based on research conducted in his lab: Helix Earth Technologies, NovoLINC, ThermalPixels, and CAPSLocks. He has also created a path for dozens of other companies, working with researchers in his and other labs, to develop world-changing technologies to improve building energy efficiencies to ultimately slow the effect on climate change. His leadership of ACRC over the last six years has resulted in research discoveries in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) space that have led directly to translational impact in the industry.
“Professor Miljkovic joined the MechSE faculty in 2014 and quickly became an integral member of the department. He is a nationally recognized leader in thermo-fluid sciences, interfacial phenomena, and energy, whose expertise lends itself well to Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center (ACRC) — where he serves as director,” said Rashid Bashir, dean of The Grainger College of Engineering. “Nenad brings a compelling vision to his new role as department head. His deep commitment to a data-driven leadership approach combined with a strong emphasis on people, culture and shared governance, as well as a drive for excellence, are essential to the long-term health and standing of the department and the college.”
The Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering at Illinois serves approximately 1,300 undergraduate students majoring in mechanical engineering and engineering mechanics; about 400 graduate students working on thesis-based MS or PhD degrees in mechanical engineering and theoretical and applied mechanics. MechSE’s non-thesis professional master of engineering in mechanical engineering (M.Eng.ME) program serves about 100 students each year. The department’s undergraduate program is ranked #4 in the U.S., its graduate program is #6, and the online master’s program in mechanical engineering is ranked #3. (U.S. News & World Report)